The story was written in 1896 and in the same year was published in the journal Russian Thought. The main events were not invented by Chekhov. The plot is based on the personal experience of the writer, even the places mentioned are the same that he visited. The images of the main characters have prototypes from the personal environment of Anton Pavlovich. A brief retelling of the chapters from Literaguru is also suitable for the reader's diary, there are only 430 words.
I chapter
The hero recalls life on the estate of Belokurov, where he spent days looking at the sky, reading and sleeping. Once on the way home he wandered into a strange manor with a mezzanine, where he met two girls.
Soon after, when the artist and Belokurov walked, the eldest of the girls, Lydia Volchaninova, drove up to the house. She came to ask for the fire victims. At the end of the meeting, she invites the heroes to dinner.
The landowner talks about her family - lives with her mother, Ekaterina Pavlovna, and sister Zhenya, nicknamed Misu, and she works as a teacher for 25 rubles and is proud of it.
When they come to the Volchaninovs, Lida speaks only with Belokurov, and I meet with the hero.
In the end, Belokurov says so about their family:
A good upbringing is not that you will not spill the sauce on the tablecloth, but that you will not notice if someone else does it.
II chapter
The hero began to visit the Volchaninovs often. Lydia did not love him for the fact that he does not portray people's needs. But Misha enjoyed spending time with him, since she herself had no worries.
One day, picking mushrooms in the garden, he meets Zhenya, who still cannot understand why the artist and Lida always argue. But everyone agrees that Lida is a wonderful person.
The girls' mother was always close to Misu, but at the same time she was reverent to her eldest daughter.
Comparing the lives of Belokurov and the Volchaninovs, the hero cannot understand why the landowner lives so dull and does not fall in love with Lydia. But he says that he is in love with the woman with whom he cohabits.
Chapter III
Lida tells her mother that they can open a hospital in Malozyomovo. She believes that all these issues are not important for the hero, and on this basis a dispute arises between them.
The artist says that peasants do not need hospitals and diplomas. The main thing is to free them from the hard work that fetters their whole life. Having received a handout, people will only feel more deprived in comparison with the upper classes. Everyone should take on part of their work, and what Lydia does is pointless.
The girl says that you can’t sit idly by and don’t want to understand the hero’s position.
In the end, when he declares that he does not want and will not work, Lida asks her sister to leave. The conversation is again about something else.
Chapter IV
In the evening, after a conversation, the hero with Misu say goodbye. He hugs and kisses her, talking about his love. In parting, the girl reports that she cannot but tell everything to her relatives, and runs away. The next day, only Lydia is at home. Mother and Zhenya left for aunt and will not return soon. From the note Mishu, the artist finds out that Lida was against their relationship and forced her sister to leave.
A few years later, having met Belokurov, he learns about the life of everyone except Misu. And still wants to find her.
